Good Habits

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham Parikrama, Mahadvadasi
Evening class, 25 March 2021, part 3
Translated from Bengali

The root of Krishna consciousness is taking shelter at the holy lotus feet of Sri Guru (guru-pada-asraya). So, first it is necessary to take shelter of Guru, then initiation can be arranged...

[His Divine Grace is distracted by a temple devotee who was sitting very far.]

If you do not sit at the front, how will you learn? When we chant the kirtans at the end, I will see what kirtans you have learnt. Are you scared of me? [His Divine Grace laughs.] You know, those who study bad always sit at the back of the class. When I was a student at university, we were not like that. You know, we used to actually fight who would sit at the front of the class. Those of us who stayed at the hostel, would wake up very early, quickly brush our teeth, then take the books and copybooks—we went to the classroom, kept the books on a desk at the front of the classroom to occupy the place, and then go away. We actually fought who would sit at the front. The bad students always sat at the back.

From the seventh grade I studied at a cadet college (English Medium). Many said that they could not manage living without their parents, but I came to study at the college leaving my parents at eleven years old. After that, I never stayed with them for more than one month. I never even stayed one month with them. I left them at eleven years old. When I started living at the hostel, I had to cook for myself, I had to wash the dishes and do everything. There were about one hundred students living at the hostel, and everybody would always put me in charge of everything. I would manage to take care of everything and even save some money, so everybody loved me, they knew, "This boy can manage everything." So, I got habituated to manage everything from the beginning...

Everybody has some habits. If I was not used to waking up early in the morning, I would also not be able to wake up. That is why when some brahmachari first comes to the temple, he must learn to do puja—when you do puja you have to wake up early for the mangal-arati, you cannot sleep; when you want to sleep in the afternoon, you will not be able to because you know you have to offer the bhog in the afternoon. In this way, they get certain sleeping habits—they will not be used to sleeping in the daytime...

শৈশব-যৌবনে, জড়সুখ-সঙ্গে,
অভ্যাস হইল মন্দ ।
নিজকর্ম্ম-দোষে, এ দেহ হইল,
ভজনের প্রতিবন্ধ ॥

saisava-yauvane, jada-sukha-sange,
abhyasa ha-ila manda
nija-karma-dose, e deha ha-ila,
bhajanera pratibandha

In my childhood and youth, I always indulged in material happiness and I have become habituated to bad things. Because of my own sins, this body has become an impediment to spiritual practice.

বৃদ্ধকাল আওল, সব সুখ ভাগল,
পীড়াবশে হইনু কাতর ।

vrddha-kala aola, saba sukha bhagala,
pida-vase ha-inu katara

"Then old age came, and all happiness fled. Subjugated by disease, I became distressed."

(Saranagati, 6.3)

People do not practise Krishna consciousness earlier thinking they will practise it when they are seventy. When you are seventy, you cannot even stand straight, you cannot do the parikrama. I have been doing this parikrama for twenty-thirty years. I stand most of the time, sometimes I have to sit down now, but I still do it. So, if we do not get into habit of doing certain things, then we will never learn to do it. It is necessary to have a habit.

When we go for the parikrama, sometimes I see boys and girls doing some exercise in a field. I think to myself, "Why are they doing it? If they just pay dandavat a hundred times (lie down on the ground and get up) when they see Vaishnavs, then all the exercise will be done." Have you seen Muslim people doing namaz five times a day? Here is all your exercise. When you are habituated to this, you do not need any additional exercise. When you do exercise, then your health will be good also. You must walk, then you will be used to it and can walk during the parikrama. We must practise and develop such habits.

It is necessary to practise Krishna consciousness, to train yourself in Krishna consciousness. You receive the Holy Name, you take shelter at your Guru's feet, but this is only getting admitted into a school. You cannot get a habit after one day. It is necessary to practise every day. It is necessary to practise chanting kirtans. I tell everyone—every morning and every evening chant at least five kirtans (ten in total). Chant Gurudev's kirtan, Vaishnav's kirtan, Nitai's kirtan, Mahaprabhu's kirtan, Krishna's kirtan, Radharani's kirtan—whatever you like. If you do that, then you will remember the kirtans by heart.

There are many devotees who have taken both first and second initiations, and when I look at their faces I see that they do not chant the Holy Name properly. I always look at everyone's faces and see whether they chant the kirtan or their mouth is closed. Many do not know the kirtans by heart, they do not know the words, they cannot chant after me, they are not habituated to it. And another point is that if you chant your mala properly every day (for example, I chant four rounds, that is 432 Holy Names), you will be used to chanting, but if, when we chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra, your mouth is closed, it means you are not used to chanting the Holy Name.

I notice these things. I see that people do not chant even the Hare Krishna maha-mantra (not to mention chanting the kirtans). They may chant today and a few more days, but four days later, when the parikrama and the festival finish, everybody runs home and when they get on the bus or train, they forget everything. They lose everything on the way. It is necessary to practise and be habituated to these things. If you always do bad things, you will have a bad habit, and if you always do good things, you will have a good habit.

I always tell you that you must always do what is favourable to devotion (bhakti-anukul). Always remember the nine kinds of devotion (nava-vidha bhakti—sravanam, kirtanam, smaranam, etc.). Take calendars with you, they are sold at our book store, then you can always know which day there is a festival. You can always call me (my phone number is there in the calendars) and ask where the main festival will be and come. You must always maintain your enthusiasm throughout the year—always look forward to the parikrama, to the festivals.

Practise makes perfect. How many days will we be alive?

দুর্লভ মানব জন্ম লভিয়া সংসারে ।
কৃষ্ণ না ভজিনু দুঃখ কহিব কাহারে ॥

durlabha manava janma labhiya samsare
krsna na bhajinu duhkha kahiba kahare?

"I have got a very rare human life in this world, but I have not worshipped Lord Krishna. Whom can I tell of my misery?"

We must feel sad, "I have not been practising Krishna consciousness!"

সংসার সংসার ক'রে মিছে গেল কাল ।
লাভ না হইল কিছু ঘটিল জঞ্জাল ॥

'samsara' 'samsara' kari' michhe gela kala
labha na ha-ila kichhu, ghatila janjala

"Time has passed as I have been busy in my material life, and I have got nothing—only became burdened."

কিসের সংসার এই, ছায়াবাজী প্রায় ।
ইহাতে মমতা করি' বৃথা দিন যায় ॥

kisera samsara ei chhayabaji praya
ihate mamata kari vrtha dina yaya

"What sort of world is this? It is like a trick, a show. While I affectionately take it as my own, days pass by in vain."

Days are passing. I came to the Math in 1992, but I was just thinking recently, "I feel like I have come to the Math just the other day, how have all these thirty years passed?" How are the days passing so quickly? We do not even notice how day by day, moment by moment we are losing the time of this life. We must think about this. I always tell you—practise Krishna consciousness. You have come to do the parikrama of the holy dham—please do it, it will be very good, but many of you have still not been able to come to this path, have not been able to take shelter of a bona fide Guru. Those who have not come to this path yet must try to come. You think how you will eat good things, wear good clothes, earn well, etc. but you cannot get the Lord though all this.

— : • : —

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